I am a student that will be graduating in 2006 and am on the editorial staff of our yearbook so i was assigned to do the now and then stuff.  Almost everyone in our class is born in 1988 so i am trying to find stuff about that time.  I have compiled a list of things that I would like to find out about 1988 and I am having trouble finding stuff on the internet.  If anyone could help me that would be really appreciated.  This is the list of things that I would like to find out:
Gas prices
Clothes/fashions
Movies
T.V. Shows
Hobbies
Cars
Music
Haircuts/ Hair styles
Stores
Population
Video games
Cell phones
Music player
Drinks/soda
Goals in life
School
Star wars
Most common job
cartoons
famous people

Also if you know any other things to add, that would also be appreciated :)

Music:

Debbie Gibson became the youngest artist (17) to write, produce, & record a #1 hit with "Foolish Beat"
INXS "Need You Tonight/Mediate" won video of the year at the 1988 Video Music Awards.
George Michael's "Faith" won album of the year at the Grammys



Popular songs:

Erasure "Chains Of Love"
Bobby Brown "My Prerogative"
Bon Jovi "I'll Be There For You"
Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock "It Takes Two"
Guns N' Roses "Sweet Child O' Mine"
INXS "New Sensation"
Poison "Every Rose Has It's Thorn"
U2 "Desire"
Expose "Seasons Change"
Def Leppard "Pour Some Sugar On Me"
Terence Trent D'Arby "Sign Your Name"
Kylie Minogue "The Locomotion"
New Edition "If This Isn't Love"





TV:

"Roseanne" & "The Wonder Years" debut
"The Cosby Show", "Growing Pains",  & "Cheers" were popular

"Yo! MTV Raps" debut, with host Fab Five Freddy



...I just bumped a thread that answers  some  of your questions  :)

I am a student that will be graduating in 2006 and am on the editorial staff of our yearbook so i was assigned to do the now and then stuff.  Almost everyone in our class is born in 1988 so i am trying to find stuff about that time.  I have compiled a list of things that I would like to find out about 1988 and I am having trouble finding stuff on the internet.  If anyone could help me that would be really appreciated.  This is the list of things that I would like to find out:
Gas prices
Clothes/fashions
Movies
T.V. Shows
Hobbies
Cars
Music
Haircuts/ Hair styles
Stores
Population
Video games
Cell phones
Music player
Drinks/soda
Goals in life
School
Star wars
Most common job
cartoons
famous people

Also if you know any other things to add, that would also be appreciated :)


Famous People - Tom Hanks, Roseanne, Michael J. Fox, Demi Moore, Bruce Willis, Eddie Murphy, Sally Field, Ronald Reagan, Chevy Chase, John Candy, Ryan White (AIDS victim), etc.

Cartoons: Richie Rich, Pee Wee Herman, Gummie Bears, etc..

I was 6-7 in 1988, so even though I was still a little kid, I paid attention to those sort of things early on - plus I've always loved and had a good feel for the 80's.

I graduated a few years ago in 2000 - man, if we'd been able to write about things from 1981 or 82, I'd have been the first to sign up for the yearbook staff! It's pretty cool that you guys get to do it.

Anyway, partly from my own memories as well as things I've observed/heard later on:

Movies -- John Hughes-directed comedies were probably at their peak around 87-89 (eg: Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Uncle Buck). Rain Man, Big and Who Framed Roger Rabbit were some other popular movies offhand.

Music -- New wave - which was bigger in the early 80s - was dying out, but synthesized happy pop music was still around alot, as were R&B pop (Billy Ocean, Expose) and hair metal - eg: a softer type of heavy metal that was big on image and stuff like ripped jeans and ballads (Bon Jovi, Def Leppard).

Cellphones -- They probably were around, but weren't popular yet - they must've been the size of a brick too, LOL! The very first kind of portable phones I recall were carphones that plugged into the cigarette lighter (that was more early 90's though, and even those were huge).

Hair -- I somewhat remember big hair was still popular (eg: perms) - several of my babysitters had it! Although it wasn't quite like it was in the earlier 80's.

Stores -- Malls were really popular then (whereas now, they're more just a place to shop and occasionally hang out). Everything else was basically the same, although things like Starbucks weren't as popular as today - people shopped in suburban areas much more than inner cities - part of mall's appeal I think.

Musical players -- Audiotapes were probably at their peak then - I know my parents were buying them alot (sometimes for me too!). CD's were new and still pretty expensive. I don't recall them being to the point of everybody having them until maybe the mid 90's. Overall, the rest of technology wasn't too different than today, just a much more primitive version of stuff we have now, but still pretty recognizeable.

TV -- Cheesy but family oriented sitcoms were pretty popular. The Cosby Show, Roseanne, Full House (one of my favorites!) and the like. The only big difference from today, is alot less swearing and things like that, especially in prime time. South Park would've probably shocked someone from 1988. No reality TV either.

Gas prices -- Probably around .80-90 cents a gallon (I think it was $1.25 average in the early 90's). Now that's a pretty big change to now (for the worse, LOL!). In other costs, not too different. Something that's $20 now that hasn't depreciated in value would probably have been about $12-15 back then.

Overall, I think the world was pretty much the same (probably a 5% difference at most), it's more things like pop culture, technology and fashions that have changed more drastically. I mean, 1970 to 1988 was MUCH more different than 1988 to 2005/06.

That was alot longer than I thought, LOL - hope it helps. :)

Cars- Delorean,Ferrari Testarosa 512 (my fav) Bmw M5, Acura NSX (1989 but commotion started in 88)

I suddenly feel very old.  I graduated high school in 1988, and I started putting together a list of things that have changed since 1988.  I was going to put it in our 20 year reunion book, but feel free to use some of it (some of it is specific to Minnesota where I grew up):

Ronald Reagan was president.
The only George Bush we knew was the one that was still Vice President.
Our global threat was that We still were living in fear of annihilation by the U.S.S.R., the Berlin Wall had not yet fallen.  Gorbachev was still in charge.
Very few of us knew who Saddam Hussein was.  Probably none of us knew who Osama bin Laden was.
South Africa was still under apartheid;  Nelson Mandela was still imprisoned.
Lexus and Infiniti automobiles were not yet on the market, neither was the Ford Explorer. You could still buy an AMC or Renault, though.
MTV played videos.
Most of us thought of Rap music as a novelty.
Nirvana was 2 years away from releasing "Smells Like Teen Spirit".
Michael Jackson was, well...not what he is now, that's for sure.
"The Simpsons" had not yet made its debut.  Neither had "Seinfeld". Or "Beverly Hills 90210".  "Miami Vice" was still in production, though.
UPN was not a network yet.  FOX was only a couple years old.
Satellite TV involved using huge dishes, no one had it.
Mullets were acceptable;  The 1970's were the epitome of uncool.
Ground had not been broken yet for the Mall of America.
There were no Wal-Mart stores in the Twin Cities, but we still had 7-11's.
The computer class was teaching BASIC programming on Apple IIe's.
noneofuscouldbecontacted@anything.com .  Graphic Internet browsing was still about 5 years away.
Cell phones were either installed in cars or as big as cinder blocks, and were prohibitively expensive.
Prince Charles & Princess Diana were still married.
Pro Hockey was still played by the Minnesota North Stars at The Met Center.
The Minnesota Timberwolves were a year away from their inaugural season. 

Music:

Debbie Gibson became the youngest artist (17) to write, produce, & record a #1 hit with "Foolish Beat"
INXS "Need You Tonight/Mediate" won video of the year at the 1988 Video Music Awards.
George Michael's "Faith" won album of the year at the Grammys



Popular songs:

Erasure "Chains Of Love"
Bobby Brown "My Prerogative"
Bon Jovi "I'll Be There For You"
Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock "It Takes Two"
Guns N' Roses "Sweet Child O' Mine"
INXS "New Sensation"
Poison "Every Rose Has It's Thorn"
U2 "Desire"
Expose "Seasons Change"
Def Leppard "Pour Some Sugar On Me"
Terence Trent D'Arby "Sign Your Name"
Kylie Minogue "The Locomotion"
New Edition "If This Isn't Love"





TV:

"Roseanne" & "The Wonder Years" debut
"The Cosby Show", "Growing Pains",  & "Cheers" were popular

"Yo! MTV Raps" debut, with host Fab Five Freddy



...I just bumped a thread that answers  some  of your questions  :)





also Murphy Brown Debut that year any one famouse born in 1988

I suddenly feel very old.  I graduated high school in 1988, and I started putting together a list of things that have changed since 1988.  I was going to put it in our 20 year reunion book, but feel free to use some of it (some of it is specific to Minnesota where I grew up):

Ronald Reagan was president.
The only George Bush we knew was the one that was still Vice President.
Our global threat was that We still were living in fear of annihilation by the U.S.S.R., the Berlin Wall had not yet fallen.  Gorbachev was still in charge.
Very few of us knew who Saddam Hussein was.  Probably none of us knew who Osama bin Laden was.
South Africa was still under apartheid;  Nelson Mandela was still imprisoned.
Lexus and Infiniti automobiles were not yet on the market, neither was the Ford Explorer. You could still buy an AMC or Renault, though.
MTV played videos.
Most of us thought of Rap music as a novelty.
Nirvana was 2 years away from releasing "Smells Like Teen Spirit".
Michael Jackson was, well...not what he is now, that's for sure.
"The Simpsons" had not yet made its debut.  Neither had "Seinfeld". Or "Beverly Hills 90210".  "Miami Vice" was still in production, though.
UPN was not a network yet.  FOX was only a couple years old.
Satellite TV involved using huge dishes, no one had it.
Mullets were acceptable;  The 1970's were the epitome of uncool.
Ground had not been broken yet for the Mall of America.
There were no Wal-Mart stores in the Twin Cities, but we still had 7-11's.
The computer class was teaching BASIC programming on Apple IIe's.
noneofuscouldbecontacted@anything.com .  Graphic Internet browsing was still about 5 years away.
Cell phones were either installed in cars or as big as cinder blocks, and were prohibitively expensive.
Prince Charles & Princess Diana were still married.
Pro Hockey was still played by the Minnesota North Stars at The Met Center.
The Minnesota Timberwolves were a year away from their inaugural season. 




This list actually is making me feel even a bit old.. it makes me wonder how archaic things were for someone born in 1982. I bet for some kids living now, having life without those things we now call necessities would be unfathomable.

  I'm in a good mood, Check this link: http://www.1980sflashback.com/1988/Economy.asp

  It has much of what you're looking for. Use the blue categories to scroll through individual topics.
  Thank me later.

thank you everyone!!

Satellite TV involved using huge dishes, no one had it.


  I actually knew an acquaintance who had one of the "B.U.D.'s(Big Ugly Dish) when I was in the USAF in 1985/86. There was very little broadcasting then, and only then during certain times of the day. I bought one in 1994(maybe '93), still use it. With the capability of receiving digital broadcasts as well as analog I just can't part with it. Currently, it has the possibility of over 4,600 channels. I also get many free broadcasts from other parts of the country. It's sort of like the "Taxi" episode where "Reverend" Jim spends all his savings on satellite tv and watches on numerous televisions.

Graphic Internet browsing was still about 5 years away.

  There was a worldwide Atari online network that used graphics in 1986, well before the World Wide Web that we know today was created by Tim Berners-Lee.
  Here's a very interesting(in a geeky sort of way) link:

  http://www.light-headed.com/asite/ig/lhg_ig.php
 

Ok, here's what I remember:
Fluro zinc cream: It came in little tubes, all variety of fluro colours and people used to get quite creative with it!
Ray ban sun glasses -very cool!
Tartan skirts for girls -knee-length, either flared or straight. Mine was straight, with a split up the back and a "Fergie" bow.
Ra-ra and balloon skirts were on their way out, but they were still around!
Over-the-knee socks were big, particularly black or black-white striped.
Spiral permed hair -and where I went to school, many girls had the spiral permed bob cut.
Music:
INXS (my fave at the time) were doing themselves and Australia proud, making big waves overseas.
Kylie was doing similar, though she didn't have half the credibility she has today.
BROS first reared their ugly, anaemic looking heads this year and there was talk of BROSmania, screaming in the streets, girls wanting to dress like them, in pale blue tailored jeans, big buckled belts and white T-shirts -now known as the gay boy club look.

1988:

Let's see......

George Bush, Sr. elected president over Mass. Governor Michael Dukakis. 

U.S. warship mistakes an Iranian passenger plane for a hostile warplane and shoots it down, killing 290 innocent Iranian civilians.

Pan Am Flight 103 blows up over Lockerbie, Scotland (terrorist bomb) killing some 260 passengers, plus 11 people on the ground.